Rico Santana

Santana was born in Hamilton, Ohio about 30 miles from Cincinnati. His love for music started at an early age being around his family the legendary 70's funk group the Zapp Band. After going on tour with his Uncle Roger Troutman he realized he had to make music a strong part of his life. This is when he started picking up the sounds of groups like Tribe Called Quest and The Leaders of the New School. After traveling to Denmark, Italy, London and Switzerland hearing different sounds of the world in the year 2000 Santana took his love for entertainment west, by moving to Los Angeles he felt he could learn about the industry and make a break thru. At that time not one person in the industry would listen to his demo so he started acting. He worked on films like Training Day and the Italian Job. He also appeared in many short films and T.V. shows like Will & Grace (100th episode, Season 5), Strong Medicine, CSI and the 5th Wheel. In 2003 he moved to Minneapolis where R&B music had run its course in the 80's and 90's but hip hop had not yet taken off. He joined a few rap groups like Livin' Proof and the 5950 Boyz but didn't have the success he was searching for. After dropping 3 solo studio albums from 2008-2011 he found his calling with his newly formed indie rock/rap band The Mellow Dramatics. Now working with James Franco, Jay Davis and Vince Jolivette at Rabbit Bandini Productions he feels his music is headed in the right direction. He has composed music for Undergrads North(2012) and Acting Class(2013).